The arrival of springtime in Petaluma always means the Butter and Egg Days parade is just around the corner. As usual, PCA was there to film the whole affair. Check in with us by the end of May if you’d like a copy of the edited DVD of the event.

This year we were delighted to have a Free Range Radio KPCA float as well.

Petaluma Community Access is pleased to announce an upcoming workshop for aspiring screenwriters, featuring a pair of gifted, award-winning local filmmakers who are equally talented instructors, Aki Aslan and Miles Levin. Join us, learn new screenwriting skills and support southern Sonoma County’s public access media center while you’re at it. Read on.

Page to Screen: The Craft of Storytelling

Course Description

In this three-session series, you will learn the fundamental principles of screenwriting, production and beyond, helping you to avoid the common pitfalls new filmmakers face every day. We will cover professional screenplay formatting, learn professional video and audio skills, and talk about how we can garner opportunities for our films on the film festival circuit: making your achievements work for you.

Most importantly, we will learn what it means to take your work seriously, so that others will too. By the end of this course you will have an understanding of the principles that good independent films live or die by and know what you’ve got to do to become skilled at it.

Learn important screenwriting fundamentals that stories die without, including character development and solid structure.

Learn to avoid filmmaking pitfalls that kill good art and potential careers in the craft.

Learn where to send your work so that you can benefit as much as possible from your film.

If you bring your creativity, passion and openness to learn and collaborate to this class, you’re guaranteed to grow as both a writer and filmmaker; and, who knows? Maybe you’ll make a few new buddies and collaborators along the way.

A request from Aki to participants: watch Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles before the start of the May 12 session.

Reserve your seat in this limited-space series today to guarantee your space in this exciting new workshop series, as space is limited.

About the Instructors

Ahmed “Aki” Aslan has been stateside since being evacuated from Egypt during the Arab Spring. He has studied the craft of storytelling at institutions form the American University in Cairo all the way to Cal State, East Bay and the incredible Santa Rosa Junior College. He is the self-published author of the book In the Box, and has been exploring (read ‘obsessing over’) the amazing world of film for a decade. If he’s not writing, researching writing, or thinking about writing, he can be found hiking the beautiful trails of Sonoma County and dipping his toes in the waters of its beaches. Aki very much enjoys an intense workout and is not ashamed to admit that yoga made him cry just that one time.

Miles Levin is a passionate young filmmaker who has screened his work in over 60 film festivals across this country and beyond. He operates a commercial video business in the medical and dental fields, and loves nothing more than getting the shot. He has taught courses at Sonoma Academy and will be a filmmaking instructor there in the fall. At 15 he started his first feature, which he completed over 3 years, and has since made a number of short films of various genres. A quality filmmaking education can be designed and achieved by those who are committed to challenging themselves. Indie film and commercial video careers are achievable for the first time in modern history, so let’s get started.

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How to Watch PCA TV

Petaluma Community Access broadcasts on Comcast and Petaluma’s local channels 26, 27, and 28. With AT&T U-Verse, PCA’s channels are accessible through channel 099. Local channels are not currently available on Satellite/DISH Networks.